A National Look at the Colts Thriller

Intro: The Colts press box contingent on Saturday was the largest it has been all season with a national flavor. Here’s a look at what some of the national writers in attendance were saying about the Colts thrilling 45-44 victory.

INDIANAPOLIS – In starting the 2014 playoffs, the Colts completed a comeback that will be talked about for years to come.

Take a look below at the top pieces from various national outlets after the Colts 45-44 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Corbett focused on the trait of “selective amnesia” that was on full display for Andrew Luck on Saturday night.

The top pick of the 2012 draft took a shotgun snap and roped that deep strike as Hilton (franchise-best 13 receptions for 224 yards with two touchdowns) split safeties Quintin Demps and Kendrick Lewis on first-and-10 from the Indianapolis 36.

It all felt like the beginning of a growing legend as Luck continues building his own pedestal next to Manning's.

"I'm happy to be here to see how hungry he is — I saw it happen early in my career with Brett Favre," said Hasselbeck, who began his career behind the Green Bay Packer icon in 1998.

"There were some crazy things that shouldn't have worked, and yet they worked because of Andrew.

Wetzel looks at Andrew Luck’s presence that kept the Colts even keel despite a 28-point deficit.

Andrew Luck smiles. He smiles often. He smiles on the field. He smiles around the Indianapolis Colts' facility. He smiles when he's on camera and when he's not. This is his default look.

His teammates warn against taking this the wrong way – the nearly ever-present smile does not reflect a lack of competitiveness from the quarterback. He's all business when it comes to business, constantly calling for focus, dutifully working through meetings and film sessions.

It's just it all comes through a smile – or wrapped self-deprecating jokes, or admissions that he's pretty much a nerd, or just walking around with that ridiculous neck beard he's currently sporting. He is who he is. He's not trying to fool anyone.

Doyle takes you inside of the Colts jovial locker room following the 45-44 comeback victory.

And it took all of the offense mustered by the Colts in the second half, when they scored five touchdowns that had the country talking about this game. Two game-related topics -- "Andrew Luck" and "KCvsInd" -- were trending nationally on Twitter on Saturday night, waiting for the Chiefs to see it on their phones.

The Colts? Technology could wait. They celebrated this one with a personal touch in their locker room, teammates hugging and singing to Marley's "Redemption Song" and someone finally giving a sharpie to Andrew Luck so he could cut himself loose from his tape while coach Chuck Pagano was in the interview room, trying to put this game into words.

There was certainly plenty of credit to go around in Indy's locker room, and you can't overlook the heroic game turned in by second-year Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton, who hauled down a team-playoff-record 13 passes for 224 yards, with two touchdowns, including the game-winner. But this was Luck's moment, and if not a masterpiece, his game announced that he has fully arrived as an elite quarterback in the NFL.

"One of the things I asked him in the quarterback meeting this week was ... 'What'd you learn from last year? What do you remember about our playoff loss?'" Christensen said, of Indy's 24-9 loss at Baltimore in the first round last season. "He said, 'I remember how long it took to get over it. How hard a playoff loss is to shake.' I think it was just in his mind, 'Hey, you don't get these opportunities often.' That's why he said to me just now, 'I was so mad at myself out there, throwing interceptions. Because you work so hard to get in the playoffs and then here I am laying an egg.'

"But the good thing is he got mad and didn't self-destruct like the average guy does. He goes out and starts chunking [yardage] and throwing punches and body blows and then sees what happens. I think it's pretty darn special stuff.''

Pretty darn special, and pretty darn difficult to top. Luck could play a very long time and never have another victory quite so sweet. But this much is now certain: When he's at quarterback, no matter the score, we'll never stop watching.

At the end of my conversation with Luck, as he tried to deflect on this dynamic he so obviously brings, he tossed this out there: "When you've got Robert Mathis on your team, you've always got a chance."

That was relayed to Mathis, who responded, "You can tell him I feel the same way about him."

And there's the last piece of this, where the leader of the team, at 24, is part of a group that reflects this great quality of his.

"He's like a lineman," Grigson said. "He identifies with every person on this roster. He doesn't have a holier-than-thou attitude. He never has. He's one of the guys. But he's also our leader. He's been incredible. You see it. The talent's there. But the heart is something. They don't measure it at the (NFL Scouting Combine), and he's got the biggest one in this league."

Intro: The Colts put together their most dominant performance of the season on Monday night, in a resounding 41-10 victory over the Jets. Here were live in-game updates from the Colts (6-6) taking on the Jets (3-9) in Week 14.

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